I am sometimes asked, “Why is the simple Inner Smile a foundation practice of cultivating Tao, the Natural Way of balance and harmony? How does the act of smiling relate to the energy arts of qigong (chi kung), tai chi and higher levels of Taoist meditation, known as internal alchemy?”

One definition of qigong is “the spiritual science behind tai chi.” It is one of the most powerful tools for getting your personal energy to flow in harmony with the Life Force. Internal alchemy is an ancient, systematic meditative process of consciously transforming the Self. Traditionally, alchemy was  considered so powerful it was kept very secret.

The Inner Smile is one of its core secrets—a simple way to transform your life. So simple, in fact, that most people overlook its potential depth. Strictly speaking, the Inner Smile is not a movement qigong or tai chi practice, but rather a “neigong” meditation practice. In Chinese, neigong means “inner skill in cultivating the self.”

The Inner Smile cultivates the core inner heart, which is distinctly different from the outer physical heart that pumps blood and vitality, or the wild fluctuations of the emotional heart that charges us up with enthusiasm and all kinds of feelings, from good to bad to indifferent. The inner heart operates at the soul level, deeper than these two.
The reason the Inner Smile is so foundational is because it cultivates a very profound sense of unconditional acceptance, first in oneself and secondly of everything that is “other.” I have found that without cultivating this deep self-acceptance in one’s inner heart, all other qigong, tai chi yoga and meditation practices eventually feel limited or imbalanced.

It is my experience that without self-acceptance, even the intention to express love or compassion can become unconsciously distorted by our need to be accepted by others. We are most effective in transmitting our natural virtues of love and kindness when it comes from a heart that is well grounded in our inner self. Smiling grows our ability to first be present in a safe way, beyond conflicts that are happening on the surface as arguments or even violence.

It takes practice, but Inner Smiling allows us to offer empathy to someone else without encountering any resistance. The feeling of warm, smiling acceptance silently transmitted to someone creates a rapport at the soul level that opens the way to communication and conflict resolution at the personality level.

I’ve noticed that people may only do a moving qigong practice that emphasizes harmony of breath, posture and mind. They may skip over the Inner Smile because it seems too simple or too subtle to produce the dramatic energetic results they are seeking.

For a while, these qigong practitioners will get very fast progress in improving their physical and emotional health. But, if they practice deeper, beyond filling up the “chi deficit” in their stressed out body-mind, that is where the limitation can arise. As soon as you begin using qigong to generate a surplus of energy, the question arises: where does that extra chi flow? If you haven’t opened up the smiling, self-accepting core consciousness, it begins to flow in patterns within your Energy Body that may amplify unconscious struggles still going on within deeper levels of yourself.

That means, in Taoist terminology, there is the possibility of it flowing into “false yin” or “false yang” energy patterns. These may be in the form of dysfunctional sexual or emotional or mental patterns that get dumped internally (false yin) or projected outwardly onto others (false yang).

The Inner Smile cultivates a special type of chi called “yuan,” or Original Chi or Original Breath. It is essentially neutral energy that stabilizes the flow of all of the yin and yang chi flow in the body. This kind of neutral energy has no judgment, no blame and no guilt. The heart center, or middle dantian, is the balance point between the belly (Earth) and head (Heaven) centers. Ultimately, our heart is the center where we cultivate our deepest sense of Humanity, as the mediating point between physical and spiritual processes.

Inner Smiling is a simple and practical way to connect these polar forces inside our body. You could cultivate a powerful energy in either the belly or the head centers, without becoming a better human being. You can get more power in the belly, or more awareness in the head, without actually changing negative patterns in those centers and without changing one’s behavior or personality for the better.

What defines a “better” human? For me, “better” defines someone who is more accepting, more loving, and more spontaneous in expressing his or her soul pattern. It is someone who exercises their divinely given free will to create greater balance and harmony within themselves and within their community. All of these qualities involve cultivating the heart center at a deep, silent, soul level.

Simple version of the Inner Smile
Are you smiling from your inner heart every day? If not, your soul may not be getting the connection it needs. Try these simple steps:

1. Feel a golden sphere of liquid light descending from Heaven and merging into your crown. Smile and spread the golden light into the left and right sides of your brain. Feel the brain cells smile back. Unconditionally accept any thoughts or judgments that arise, then accept them dissolving.

2. Allow the smiling golden light to flow into your heart and radiate from there into your other vital organs and tissues. Unconditionally accept any feelings that arise, then accept them dissolving.

3. Allow the smiling golden light to flow into your spine and radiate a profound peace from there into your nervous system, bones, blood and cells. Unconditionally accept any sensations that arise, then accept them dissolving into a golden pearl at your navel, in the center of your body.

4. Feel your entire body-mind smiling and radiating golden light. Direct this to any level of self, others, or cosmos to unconditionally accept the deep soul residing within.

Michael Winn is the founder of Healing Tao Summer Retreats program at Heavenly Mountain, near Blowing Rock, NC, which offers 30 retreats on the Taoist healing, movement, and meditation arts. To obtain a free 130 page e-book on the Inner Smile, visit www.HealingTaoUSA.com or call 888-999-0555 for more information.

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